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Are we alone in the universe research essay
Are we alone in the universe
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Are we alone in the universe? Is anything or anybody out there? These are age old questions, asked from people of all ages and races. But the first questions we need to ask are if it is even possible? Are there any other planets out there that are habitable? What does a planet need to be habitable? Without a habitable planet life cannot sustain in the universe, the search for life in the universe has been long and hard with no results proving life to exist outside of earth. The most predominant searchers of those at the SETI Institute or Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence Institute, a privately funded organization, that uses various methods to search for electromagnetic transmissions, the assumed method of contact, from distant planets. With information about planets habitability and possibly locations in space SETI would be greatly benefitted; they are challenged now by searching for transmissions without any knowledge of direction, spectrum, or method of use (SETI). If possible directions were known one less assumption would have to be made and we could one step closer to finding life in the universe.
Finding a habitable planet and life in the universe is much more then searching for life, it is searching for a planet in a solar system in the universe that is capable if maintaining life. It must be within a habitable zone in the solar system and all the necessities for planetary habitable on the planet. It must be in an area where its lifespan will be long enough for life to evolve. It must be inhabited by organisms capable of evolution.
Habitable can mean many things. A habitable planet could sustain some form for life, but not others. For this paper I am using the Darwinian Definition for a life and a habitable pla...
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Kasting, James F. "How to Find a Habitable Planet." Geosciences- Penn State University. Web. .
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Mullen, Leslie. "Galactic Habitable Zones." Astrobiology Magazine -- The Origin and Evolution of Life in the Universe. 18 May 2001. Web. .
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"What Makes Earth Habitable." Cheyenne Mountian School District. Web. .
Biosphere The Realm Of Life. Authors: Robert A. Wallace, Jack L.King , Gerald P.Sanders – 1998
Waller, William H. The Milky Way: An Insider's Guide. Princeton, N.J: Princeton UP, 2013. 42+. Print.
Thorne, Greg. “About Earth First!” Earth First! N.p., 18 May 2011. Web. 18 May 2011. .
Finding life in our solar system could potentially answer the questions humanity has been asking for thousands of years. Sarah Seager, a professor at MIT, mentioned some of these thought provoking questions, “why are we here? Why does our universe exist? How did Earth form and evolve? How and why did life originate and populate our planet?” Answers to these questions could give humanity a deeper understanding of who we are and what our place in the universe is. Steven Dick believes that humanity has “… deep psychological yearnings for companionship, superior wisdom, or ‘an ineradicable desire to see the skies filled with life’.” Those opposed may argue that a biological universe will have little effect on humanity’s understanding of our place in the universe because a biological universe simply does not exist. One may argue that life is exceedingly complex and the odds of conditions being just right for the production and the sustainment of life are slim. Our civilization may have managed to beat the odds, but many its unlikely to for this to occur elsewhere in our solar system. The proof to back this argument is the N =1 equation. The only solid evidence we have proves that only one planet has beaten these insurmountable odds and produced life. While this argument makes logical sense, relying solely on evidence we have at the moment, takes our focus away from the
By this he means if the force was weaker or any stronger, carbon would not be as readily available as it is now thereby diminishing the chances of life (Hoyle 205 - 209). Hoyle’s discovery presents a strong argument for the Anthropic Principle as it is displays characteristics that life is unique which corresponds to the first postulate of the WAP. However, Smolin concludes that this is not an Anthropic prediction since it was already a proven fact that carbon is widely
THESIS: Life on earth has been considered by some as a purposeful interaction tending toward ecological stability. However, when the scientific community led by James Lovelock tried to match this concept with science, it was (and continues to be) a dilemma.
839-841). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Co., Inc. Kerzner, H. (2013). The 'Path of the Earth'. Journal of Science, 63(3), pp. 113-117.
Over a 1950 summer lunch at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the great physicist Enrico Fermi asked his colleagues an unexpected question – “Don’t you ever wonder where everybody is?” Laughter went around the table as everyone immediately knew that he was talking about extraterrestrial intelligence [1]. If life arises fairly commonly, as Fermi believed, it follows that there should be advanced civilizations with the desire to visit and colonize Earth close enough to do so. However, there is no incontrovertible evidence of aliens on Earth, either now or in the past. This is called the Fermi Paradox. The lack of observational evidence for extraterrestrial intelligence is known as the ‘Great Silence.’[13]
The existence of life – Aliens, beyond our planet has been a controversial topic for several centuries, and is a debatable issue even today in the 21st century. What is our topic you may ask? Aliens, Do, Exist. According to theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking, it would be improbable for life not to exist somewhere other than Earth. This is a bold claim, but there is evidence to support this statement. The evidence we seek is in the many Alien occurrences we have experienced throughout human history.
It is without a doubt that the most fascinating thing about space is the possibility of life elsewhere beside Earth. It is estimated that the Milky Way Galaxy itself contains about 300 billion stars. Each star contains planets and some planets might even have moons. With these findings, the question is no longer whether life exists elsewhere. The probability that Earth is the only place where life exists in the universe is far too slim. NASA has identified many planets that have similar conditions to Earth but most of these planets are hundreds of light years away so traveling there to find out if there’s any living organism is not easy. Luckily, scientific evidences have pointed out that one of the moons of Jupiter, Europa, could be one of the places where life can exist. If the theories proposed by astronomers about Europa are true, life on Europa might not even be entirely different than life near the bottom of Earth’s oceans.
Audesirk, T. (2003). Life on Earth. In (Ed.), (3rd ed., pp. 581-620). New York: Pearson Custom Publishing - Prentice Hall, Inc..
The issue investigated in this essay is whether or not the planet Kepler-186f should be terraformed and colonised by humans. Kepler-186f is located in the Kepler-186 system, around 500 light years away from Earth. It is the first Earth-sized planet found in the habitable zone, meaning that it orbits its host star at a distance where liquid water would be able to exist (NASA, 2015). Considering this, the question of whether or not it would be able to sustain human life comes to mind. Not enough is known about the planet, so there is a possibility that Kepler-186f would be forced to be terraformed first in order to allow humans to colonise.
Our solar system has eight planets, their moons and satellites, and they are all orbiting the Sun. The eight planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto used to be the ninth planet but IAU changed the definition of planet and Pluto did not meet the standards so it is now a Dwarf planet.
With a field as large as space is, metaphorically and literally, there is no end to all the advantages that can come of exploring the magnificent cosmos. One of the major questions we face currently is the possibility of life on other planets. “NASA's biggest ambition is the hunt for life and a habitat that can support life. Several planned or prepared missions will specifically explore the question of whether or not life exists, or once existed, elsewhere in out solar system” (Folger 3). That's exactly what we plan on using the Curiosity rover for. The MSL (Mars Space Laboratory) Curiosity rover was launched November 26th, 2011 and landed on Mars on August 6th, 2012 (Launch 2). “MSL Curiosity's mission is to analyze the climate, geology, and habitability of Mars to see if there is or has ever been life on Mars. Then, after gathering enough data, it will see if it's feasible to send a manned mission to Mars” (Anthony 2). We are already searching ...
Planet Earth is home to millions of species of life, including ourselves. It is unique in the Solar System because it is the only planet which is able to support a great variety of life: from basic living micro-organisms to highly sophisticated and intelligent human beings. The planet provides the necessary resources and products to support the biosphere that can support the global living organism’s population. Yet, what factors allow Earth to sustain life? Life as we recognize it requires specific conditions to exist. The most basic of these conditions include components needed by living creatures such as water, nutrients, an energy source, and the right atmosphere and climate. Humans need to breathe oxygen and can survive in moderate temperatures- not too cold and not too hot. The atmosphere is like the Earth’s blanket, keeping it warm and protected. Other planets that we know of do not have the same conditions as Earth, so if life were to be present on other planets they would be adapted to that planet’s unique environment. Living things on Earth have adapted to this planet’s atmosphere, therefore we need the specific composition of Earth’s atmosphere to survive.